In the days since four Palm Desert businesses were destroyed by a fire, the owners have been making plans to rebuild.
It was very early in the morning of Sunday, April 14, when a fire broke out in the stand-alone building at 73131 Country Club Drive, at the east end of the Plaza de Monterey Shopping Center, which is anchored by Bristol Farms.
“We got a phone call at about a quarter to 6 in the morning from a friend of ours,” said Ira Mosley, the owner of Papa Dan’s Pizza and Pasta restaurant, in an interview with the Independent. “They happened to be driving by, and saw it and called us. … Obviously I got up and got dressed and went down there, but by the time I got there, the entire building was totally engulfed.”
Since the damage was so extensive, the owners have had little to no chance to get inside.
“The building isn’t safe,” Moseley said. “It has to be shored up. … The fire department let me go in one of the back doors to get into my office to get my hard drives and get money out of the safe. But (since then), nobody has been able to go in.”
In the weeks since the blaze, the community has come forward to support Mosley, as well as Mona and Nestor Rodriguez, owners of the unique D’Coffee Bouteaque. Led, in part, by disconsolate customers, several fundraising efforts have been started to help the businesses, and to support their out-of-work employees.
On Tuesday, April 23, Will Rollins, a California District 41 congressional candidate, and his staff held a hastily arranged fundraiser for the affected business owners at his campaign’s Palm Desert office, which is located in the same shopping center.
“This is what it means to be a good neighbor, and to help your neighbors in times of need,” Rollins said at the event. “I know that I speak for everybody in this room that we are with you, and we want to help you get through this, and we want to … do whatever we can to try to help you rebuild. We know you guys will be back.”
Palm Desert Mayor Karina Quintanilla was also at the event. “Small businesses are the heart and soul of a community,” the mayor told KESQ News Channel 3 afterward. “These are essential services. They’re not just walls; they are people. They are businesses; they are our community, and stepping up to help them is the definition of community. We will be there to help them rebuild.”
D’Coffee Bouteaque owner Mona Rodriguez was genuinely moved by the show of support at the fundraiser.
“I want to say so many things,” she said. “First of all, the most important thing, thank you to my family of Palm Desert. … God put us here for a reason and … when it comes to the necessities (resulting) from an emergency like this, it’s so beautiful to see everybody together.”
Rodriguez said she and her husband plan to rebuild. “My husband and I decided we want to reopen again,” she told KESQ. “We want to build this beautiful place again and have the community coming back to see us again very soon.”
Miracle Ear Hearing Center and Reverse Mortgage Works also called the destroyed building home. Representatives of the two businesses did not respond to phone calls and emails from the Independent.
As for Papa Dan’s, Mosley said he hopes to re-open in the same shopping center relatively soon.
“In order to rebuild, it could take a year to a year and a half,” he told the Independent. “So we’re going to relocate to another building in that same shopping center. Down at the other end, there’s a freestanding 5,000-square-foot building, and we’re going to take that. The city and the landlords and the building department have given us an ‘express pass’ to go to the head of the line, basically. … You know, they want me back in business. We’ve been there a long time, for 40 years, and (the restaurant) is kind of a staple in Palm Desert. … There’s no hesitation in getting it open by October.”
Despite lots of support, the business owners are enduring numerous hurdles in the fire’s aftermath.
“We’re waiting for the insurance company and their appraisers to get in there and decide what to do, and how soon we can do it,” Mosley said. “There’s work that needs to be done on the new building as well, (which the landlords) are going to start, probably within the next week.”
While all of the re-opening efforts play out, the owners expressed concern about the well-being and their employees. Mosley told the Independent that his 45 employees should be paid by insurance for 60 days, and that his “key employees” would be paid by insurance for up to a year.
Mona Rodriguez told KESQ that things are moving slowly. “We have to be patient and wait for the insurance, but my workers are what I’m worried about,” she said. “They need checks. They can’t wait. They have bills to pay; they have kids. They need a lot of support.”
The fire department arrested Natalie Marie Radu, 30, and charged her with starting the fire. Even though she was reportedly homeless, she was released on $50,000 bail. On Friday April 26, she failed to appear in court, and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.
To help out D’Coffee Bouteaque, visit www.gofundme.com/f/for-nestor-and-mona-of-dcoffee-bouteaque.
To help out Papa Dan’s, visit www.gofundme.com/f/support-papa-dans-staff-through-crisis?qid=f8a98c8f5df7820f8f2281931ff19962.
My wife and I are big fans of both restaurants, and can’t wait to enjoy their new locations!